Just a thought-you could make your point without putting others down
+1. To her defense she felt attacked in this thread and attacking others, showing how her beliefs are not the most extreme, is a natural defense.
I am thinking from her post that this minhag has similarities to keeping a beard. I have a beard because that is what my minhag is and also a halacha according to rabbeim I respect. But many people have told me they are so jealous that I don't shave my beard, because it is such a pain. Can I say this adds to my decision, well it doesn't much, but it is one way to justify it.
Similar is what meshug said and the poster above said, they do it because it is their minhag as well as it is much more convenient. When someone is raised with an expectation to be adhered to, they learn to deal with it in the best way possible. This is human psychology, when given two choices we are rarely happy either way, but when given one choice (even if it seems to be the worse of the two options) we naturally justify it to ourselves and find rational as to why it is really the best option. See here for more explanation on synthetic happiness we as people do all the time and is a very real thing
This last point is a big part of how every religion works and why people in one religion hold their beliefs normal while a member of a totally different religion feels their religion is the normal one, while these two religions couldn't be more different.
Whether it's keeping a beard, shaving your head, keeping kosher, or any other religious "restriction" the adherent accepts the command and hopefully learns to love it in a way that they are happy to keep it. One way to be able to do this while others ridicule that belief is justify it to yourself in ways only an adherent would feel. And to mock or make fun of that adherents reasoning for doing what they were raised with is silly as everyone does it consciously and subconsciously all the time.
Not saying open discussion about beliefs and religion is pointless, but this is something I think people should keep in mind. And I strongly recommend watching he video I linked to if you have the time.
As for the OP's article I didn't read it, but of course everyone has to have free will and forcing something on people is simply counterproductive. Because people can justify something to a point, if they don't believe in it anymore, you have to let them work things out themselves.